What do you think about the proposed beer stimulus in the US?

Beer can do anything! It’s liquid bread! It’s good for you!

Beer and cigarette taxes are fine by me. Those aren’t essentials. And I drink AND smoke. If it helps the economy, I say go for it, because if it gets awfully bad I’ll just quit drinking and smoking.

Well…a beer stimulus would be enough to make me think the economy is good and growing. :-)

Since Rupert Murdoch bought the Wall Street Journal, I don’t expect anything but right-wing propaganda from it, just as he delivers from all his other media outlets. But this one is legitimate. I’m all for it. Better beer through les taxes on small business. What’s not to love?

How can one stimulate the already stimulated? I missed that article. What day?

Beer is nutritious food, and is nothing at all like cigarettes (or hard alcohol) and should not be taxed much more than bread or cereal.

I do not see at all how buying more beer will create significant jobs, or do anything to stimulate the larger economy. The only things the bill will “stimulate” are the representative’s campaign funds.

Stimulus is not what this bill is about. It’s about drawing attention to their constituent states. It’s about increasing market share % to their constituents. That’s natural. That’s what senators are for.

However, the bill also triples the size of what is considered “microbrewing”, and (quite as expected) is the start of a long but inevitable journey of absorbing small craftsman type product businesses into large efficient consolidated megalopolis non-human corporate entities by changing the competitive landscape by making them grow or die – under the delusion of unlimited growth.

Dog Fish eat Dog, if you will.

@ipso That’s the oddest reason for drinking that I think I’ve ever heard! Trust me. We can live without the nutrition of beer!

@ipso The jobs are not just in breweries. Growing the unique varieties of hops and barley that give the craft brews their distinctive taste. Sure, it isn’t a huge block of jobs. But every little bit helps. And I will drink to that.
http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/beer-stimulus-hops-barley-create-jobs/story?id=10932224

It will also give ambulances, police, lawyers and morticians more to do.

It might affect the crops I grow. If the price is right, I’ll start growing hops.

@Dutchess_III – Odd? Clearly then you know little of the origin of beer, or how it was used for its first few millennia.

And no, I do not trust you to dictate to me what we can and cannot live life without.

@ETpro – I will drink to you, but I still think Hops and Barley are highly mechanized crops. The Harvard research doc buried a few links into your link was good stuff though. Thanks for that.

@ipso The point is, it is not a necessity, just like cigarettes and candy are not necessities. So tax ‘em! I know you don’t believe me, but we really could sustain our lives without beer.

@ipso Hops are not a highly mechanized crop. Many of the varieties are fussy to grow and all must be picked, graded and processed by hand. All of the other beer constituents, other than yeast, are mechanized field crops.

It is actually encouraging that even an idiot like John Kerry has figured out that if you cut taxes on business, they hire more people.

@Dutchess_III – no – the point is you don’t know what you’re talking about [beer], and should not presume to know what is “necessary” for me or anyone else. Speak for yourself.

Visiting forests, church tithes, traveling outside your own home town, reading books at the library, creating and selling art, patronage of art, making and drinking craft beer, eating fine food, eating fast food, buying craft beer, buying cherry pie – necessities? Should we tax those too?

@stranger_in_a_strange_land – interesting. I thought hops can be picked by hand, just like cotton, but I was led to believe these days most hop growers use stationary picking machines or other mechanical devises. I have been told that by a guy who I buy supplies from at my local homebrew supply shop. Of course people are still involved.

In any case, the Harvard review talked about under 3000 jobs being created across 50 states. Even if that is true (which I find dubious) the bill is still about increasing profit to the business. Hiring more people is… “not a necessity.”

OP’s Q: ”Do you think that this beer stimulus will be enough to bring the US out of the recession?”

No.

I think the WSJ article is more about selling Wall Street Journals than anything.

And I’m not all fired up about the bill expanding the definition of microbrewery from 2M to 6M barrels annually, so that they (read: Dog Fish and a few others) can “compete with the big boys”. What is not mentioned is that the smallest craft brewers will then not be able to compete within their own expanded sector (perhaps) causing the very familiar spiral of consolidation and closures until – ultimately – we have again only three brewers.

That’s what I think.

@ipso That’s a very large operation, they’ve mechanized sorting and processing. These are the hops that the big, mass-production breweries use. The craft-brewers tend to use specialty hops, where all operations are done by hand.

They would do better to make real beer, like the ones brewed in Canada. That would boost sales!

Boost Canada’s GNP, send us more Labatts Blue, eh?

Rahr, in Alberta, produces the 2-row brewer’s grain I use. They supply many craft brewers on the U.S. West Coast. they also have a plant in Minnesota

@ipso Well, I assumed that you’re a human being, and therefore need the same nutritional requirements that all human beings have. This is a silly conversation!